Now that December is upon us, it is time for me to provide my hoops recruiting breakdown for the month of December. I didn’t get any questions this time, so I’ll just dive into what it looks like for each recruiting class.
2018
When looking at the 2018 recruiting class, Cal is off to a strong start with the commitments of 4-stars Jacobi Gordon and Matt Bradley as well as 3-star Andre Kelly. One scholarship is open at the moment, but there is the possibility that another spot frees itself up in the spring. With a strong backcourt in place, Cal is really focusing on shoring up their front court and giving Andre Kelly some help down low. The two main targets that Cal is focusing on is 5-star power forward Jordan Brown and 4-star power forward J’Raan Brooks. 5-star Moses Brown, who I never felt was a serious target, told ESPN he is down to Maryland, UCLA, Florida State, and will decide between Kentucky and Duke for his final visit. So, we can officially scratch him off the list.
It’s possible that other bigs enter the picture, but as it stands, Jordan Brown and J’Raan Brooks are the two main guys who Cal is really focusing on right now in the 2018 class. Below is a quick breakdown of where both guys are in the recruiting process.
Jordan Brown: Jordan Brown is down to a final seven of St. John’s, UCLA, Gonzaga, Oregon, UL-Lafayette, Nevada, and Cal, but there is speculation that he might be holding out for some bigger offers like North Carolina, Duke, and Kentucky. Personally, I think if any of those three schools offered, he’d seriously consider them. Among the teams in his top seven, it still feels like a race between Cal and UCLA with St. John’s as a dark horse. The other schools still have a shot, but if I had to pick three schools out of his top seven that are most in the running, I would pick those three.
In my opinion, the rumors surrounding the departure of Theo Robertson could be very bad for Cal in their hopes of landing Jordan Brown. Dion wants his son to go to a program with a strong coaching staff that can help him reach his ultimate goal of playing in the NBA. It would be very easy for them to look at the recent events at Cal and figure they’d be better going off to a more stable situation. Cal needs to do the absolute best they can to alleviate any concerns that Jordan and Dion have with what happened and ensure them that they are a coaching staff that they can trust. Cal can overcome this hurdle, but it’s going to take work and a lot of convincing on their end. It also comes down to what exactly Jordan and Dion hear. The less they hear on the matter, the better for Cal.
In regards to a decision timeline, Dion recently told me that springtime is when Jordan plans to make a decision. Nothing has changed there.
J’Raan Brooks: After decommitting from USC, J’Raan Brooks has received interest from a lot of schools, most notably Washington, Cal, Virginia, St. John’s, and Texas A&M. Both St. John’s and Texas A&M offered him after he decommitted. Brooks has been a hard one to read since he hasn’t been willing to talk much about his recruitment and where he’s leaning. The fact that Cal got him to visit indicates that he’s giving them serious consideration. Especially since they made his initial top-five.
Brooks is expected to be a spring decision and I think a reason for that could be him holding out for some bigger offers to come through. Kansas, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Wisconsin have all expressed interest but are yet to pull the trigger on an offer. If any of those schools were to offer him, Cal’s competition for Brooks would get a lot fiercer.
With so much time between now and the spring, the best thing to do with both Brooks as well as Brown, is to see how things play out over the next couple of months. Hopefully as time goes on, we’ll be able to get a clearer picture of where both guys are leaning and when specifically they hope to make a decision. I feel like Cal has a chance with both guys, but as I said earlier, the departure of Theo Robertson raises a lot of questions and could make both of these guys seek a program with more stability.
2019
In the 2019 class, the following guys appear to be gaining the most traction with Cal: 3-star power forward Maxwell Lorca-Lloyd, 4-star power forward Isaiah Mobley, 4-star shooting guard Charles Smith IV, and 4-star small forward Majok Deng. Out of those four guys, three of the four have visited. The only guy who hasn’t visited is Lorca-Lloyd, but it does sound like he wants to visit when he finds the time. I feel like all four of these guys are seriously considering Cal, but they are still fairly early in the recruiting process.
If we are talking about need here, it’s definitely the frontcourt, though if Cal finds themselves with two spots available for 2019, pairing Charles Smith IV with any of those three guys would be really nice. Isaiah Mobley is probably the best guy Cal could get to pair with C4, but at this point, I think they’d take any of those forwards. Hell, I think if they got any of those forwards without getting C4, they would be tickled pink.
2020
With the 2020 class, it’s still way too early to scratch anyone off the list, but it isn’t too early to identify who Cal appears to be gaining the most traction with. If I had to pick one kid who is leading the pack, it would be Ziaire Williams. He visited Cal in November and seems to be developing a nice relationship with the Cal program. He really liked his visit and seems to see Cal as very viable option for him. 5-star point guard R.J. Hampton would be the dream get in this class, but he’s on track to go to a school like Duke or Kansas. I honestly think he’s out of reach for Cal. 4-star shooting guard Tramon Mark appeared to be interested in Cal when I interviewed him, as did 4-star wing Johnny Juzang. In addition to those guys, 4-star wing Jabri Abdur-Rahim will probably give Cal some consideration because of his dad. While it is early yet, the 2020 class at the moment looks like Ziaire Williams leading the pack with Tramon Mark, Johnny Juzang, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim looking like possible gets, but guys who Cal will really need to work for to land.
As for 4-star wing Josh Christopher, whose brother Patrick Christopher played at Cal, I believe that the dismissal of Theo Robertson will sour him to this current Cal program. I know he has fond memories of Cal, but Theo was the one who personally offered him a scholarship over the phone. Theo is really close with Patrick and will tell Patrick his version of events of what happened between him and Wyking. If Josh believes Theo, which is likely, it’s going to be almost impossible for this current Cal staff to land him.
2018
When looking at the 2018 recruiting class, Cal is off to a strong start with the commitments of 4-stars Jacobi Gordon and Matt Bradley as well as 3-star Andre Kelly. One scholarship is open at the moment, but there is the possibility that another spot frees itself up in the spring. With a strong backcourt in place, Cal is really focusing on shoring up their front court and giving Andre Kelly some help down low. The two main targets that Cal is focusing on is 5-star power forward Jordan Brown and 4-star power forward J’Raan Brooks. 5-star Moses Brown, who I never felt was a serious target, told ESPN he is down to Maryland, UCLA, Florida State, and will decide between Kentucky and Duke for his final visit. So, we can officially scratch him off the list.
It’s possible that other bigs enter the picture, but as it stands, Jordan Brown and J’Raan Brooks are the two main guys who Cal is really focusing on right now in the 2018 class. Below is a quick breakdown of where both guys are in the recruiting process.
Jordan Brown: Jordan Brown is down to a final seven of St. John’s, UCLA, Gonzaga, Oregon, UL-Lafayette, Nevada, and Cal, but there is speculation that he might be holding out for some bigger offers like North Carolina, Duke, and Kentucky. Personally, I think if any of those three schools offered, he’d seriously consider them. Among the teams in his top seven, it still feels like a race between Cal and UCLA with St. John’s as a dark horse. The other schools still have a shot, but if I had to pick three schools out of his top seven that are most in the running, I would pick those three.
In my opinion, the rumors surrounding the departure of Theo Robertson could be very bad for Cal in their hopes of landing Jordan Brown. Dion wants his son to go to a program with a strong coaching staff that can help him reach his ultimate goal of playing in the NBA. It would be very easy for them to look at the recent events at Cal and figure they’d be better going off to a more stable situation. Cal needs to do the absolute best they can to alleviate any concerns that Jordan and Dion have with what happened and ensure them that they are a coaching staff that they can trust. Cal can overcome this hurdle, but it’s going to take work and a lot of convincing on their end. It also comes down to what exactly Jordan and Dion hear. The less they hear on the matter, the better for Cal.
In regards to a decision timeline, Dion recently told me that springtime is when Jordan plans to make a decision. Nothing has changed there.
J’Raan Brooks: After decommitting from USC, J’Raan Brooks has received interest from a lot of schools, most notably Washington, Cal, Virginia, St. John’s, and Texas A&M. Both St. John’s and Texas A&M offered him after he decommitted. Brooks has been a hard one to read since he hasn’t been willing to talk much about his recruitment and where he’s leaning. The fact that Cal got him to visit indicates that he’s giving them serious consideration. Especially since they made his initial top-five.
Brooks is expected to be a spring decision and I think a reason for that could be him holding out for some bigger offers to come through. Kansas, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Wisconsin have all expressed interest but are yet to pull the trigger on an offer. If any of those schools were to offer him, Cal’s competition for Brooks would get a lot fiercer.
With so much time between now and the spring, the best thing to do with both Brooks as well as Brown, is to see how things play out over the next couple of months. Hopefully as time goes on, we’ll be able to get a clearer picture of where both guys are leaning and when specifically they hope to make a decision. I feel like Cal has a chance with both guys, but as I said earlier, the departure of Theo Robertson raises a lot of questions and could make both of these guys seek a program with more stability.
2019
In the 2019 class, the following guys appear to be gaining the most traction with Cal: 3-star power forward Maxwell Lorca-Lloyd, 4-star power forward Isaiah Mobley, 4-star shooting guard Charles Smith IV, and 4-star small forward Majok Deng. Out of those four guys, three of the four have visited. The only guy who hasn’t visited is Lorca-Lloyd, but it does sound like he wants to visit when he finds the time. I feel like all four of these guys are seriously considering Cal, but they are still fairly early in the recruiting process.
If we are talking about need here, it’s definitely the frontcourt, though if Cal finds themselves with two spots available for 2019, pairing Charles Smith IV with any of those three guys would be really nice. Isaiah Mobley is probably the best guy Cal could get to pair with C4, but at this point, I think they’d take any of those forwards. Hell, I think if they got any of those forwards without getting C4, they would be tickled pink.
2020
With the 2020 class, it’s still way too early to scratch anyone off the list, but it isn’t too early to identify who Cal appears to be gaining the most traction with. If I had to pick one kid who is leading the pack, it would be Ziaire Williams. He visited Cal in November and seems to be developing a nice relationship with the Cal program. He really liked his visit and seems to see Cal as very viable option for him. 5-star point guard R.J. Hampton would be the dream get in this class, but he’s on track to go to a school like Duke or Kansas. I honestly think he’s out of reach for Cal. 4-star shooting guard Tramon Mark appeared to be interested in Cal when I interviewed him, as did 4-star wing Johnny Juzang. In addition to those guys, 4-star wing Jabri Abdur-Rahim will probably give Cal some consideration because of his dad. While it is early yet, the 2020 class at the moment looks like Ziaire Williams leading the pack with Tramon Mark, Johnny Juzang, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim looking like possible gets, but guys who Cal will really need to work for to land.
As for 4-star wing Josh Christopher, whose brother Patrick Christopher played at Cal, I believe that the dismissal of Theo Robertson will sour him to this current Cal program. I know he has fond memories of Cal, but Theo was the one who personally offered him a scholarship over the phone. Theo is really close with Patrick and will tell Patrick his version of events of what happened between him and Wyking. If Josh believes Theo, which is likely, it’s going to be almost impossible for this current Cal staff to land him.
